In What Ways Is Krishna a Contrast to the Headmaster, and What Do They Have in Common?

In what ways is Krishna a contrast to the Headmaster, and what do they have in common?

SIMILARITIES

experienced family problems

views on education

Both agreed about sports and games as part of the curriculum in education in order to make students more modern and vigorous. The headmaster felt that schools set up in India went about by mere copying. "We could as well have been born Monkeys to justify our powers in imitation". He strongly felt that there was no independent thinking on the part of the government and individual schools. Headmaster invented new methods to teach the children, ways that were strongly different from those used in most schools like Albert Mission College in which Krishna taught.

spirituality (became by circumstances)

astrologer. medium.

DIFFERENCES

Unhappy Marriage / Happy Marriage

The headmaster had a completely unhappy marriage with his wife. He was hustled into marriage. The headmaster and his wife had different opinions and it was almost impossible for both of them to come to a agreement. The headmaster was a man who was not interested in worldy possessions whereas his wife was a materialistic woman. When the Headmaster's father had died, the Headmaster did not gain the fine house that his father owned. Instead, it was passed down to the children of his second wife. The Headmaster's wife expected him to fight for the rights of the property but he was not interested in possessing the house.This made his wife very bitter. They were very spiteful towards each other. On the other hand, Krishna and Susila had a happy marriage. Whatever disagreements they faced throughout their marriage, they would resolve it in the end. When they quarreled over Krishna's alteration in the groceries, they eventually made up and went to watch a movie.

Morals and Life / Literary and expression aspect

Uninterested in worldly possessions. He was concerned about life and education. He was impressed by the amount of values you can learn from by interacting with children. Krishna was more interested in expressing himself through words. He was an emotional person and he enjoyed writing poems as he was a poet.

Loves his job / Detests his job

The Headmaster feels whole when he teaches the children at his school. He loves children and he is fascinated by their innonence. He cannot find a better job to suit his interest than teaching children (even turn the prospect of studying law). Throughout the book, we can see that although he faces many problems in life, his job and the children he teaches keeps him sane and fulfilled. Krishna, on the other hand, 'was constantly nagged by the feeling that I was doing the wrong work'. Krishna was a poet and what he wanted to do was to write poems and express his feelings through words. He was working at Albert Mission College merely for the money to support himself, therefore the sentence 'I did not do it out of love for them or for Shakespeare but only out of love of myself.

Views about death

Headmaster